CSPI's TV Ads Target Olestra Chips

In Test-Market 'Diarrhea Capitals'

A leading public health advocacy group will begin running paid television commercials this week to warn viewers that eating Frito-Lay's "Max" chips could cause loose stools and cramps.

The chips are the first products on the market to be made with the fat substitute olestra (Olean®). Frito-Lay is test-marketing "Max" chips in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Eau Claire, Wisconsin; and Grand Junction, Colorado -- three cities that the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) says are being turned into "diarrhea capitals" by the controversial potato and tortilla chips.

The commercial, made public at a Washington, D.C., news conference today, will be aired dozens of times on television stations in all three test markets beginning this week. "This ad provides important consumer information that Frito-Lay fails to include in its ads," said Michael Jacobson, executive director of CSPI.

The CSPI commercial displays a can of dog food with the label notice that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires on products made with olestra: "Olestra may cause abdominal cramping and loose stools." The announcer asks: "If you saw that, would you give it to your dog? Well, this warning isn't on dog food. It's on these new 'Max' potato chips from Frito-Lay. Are you going to give them to your kids?"

The commercial asks anyone who suffers side effects from "Max" chips to report them to CSPI's toll-free hot line (1-888-OLESTRA). CSPI will compile the reported effects and submit them to the FDA.

"Though our olestra hot line has not been widely publicized," said Jacobson, "we've received dozens of reports already, enough to convince us that these cities are becoming the diarrhea capitals of America."

In addition to the TV commercials, CSPI is placing advertisements in local newspapers to inform readers about "Max" chips' health effects and CSPI's hot line. Jacobson is also taking the campaign on the road to two of the test-market cities, Cedar Rapids and Eau Claire, where he will join local health advocates and affected consumers in press conferences and media appearances. Citizens' groups also plan to support the effort by leafleting at supermarkets.

CSPI also released a letter from 20 victims of "Max" chips to FDA Commissioner David Kessler and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Robert Pitofsky. The letter urged the FDA to rescind its approval of olestra or, at the least, to require a more prominent, explicit warning label. The signers urged the FTC to require all ads for olestra products to include the label notice.

"This product gives whole new meaning to the term 'snack attack,'" Jacobson said. "Not only is it causing severe discomfort in some people, olestra also interferes with the absorption of nutrients; that could eventually lead to increased risk of heart disease, cancer, and blindness."

CSPI also maintains an Internet site -- www.cspinet.org/olestra -- with updated information on its campaign to reverse the FDA's approval for using olestra in food.

CSPI is a nonprofit health-advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1971, it is best known for its nutrition studies of restaurant foods and campaign to obtain nutrition labeling on packaged foods. It is supported largely by the 750,000 subscribers to its Nutrition Action Healthletter and accepts no industry or government funding.

# # #